Coupler centering device

ABSTRACT

A railway car coupler centering device for railway cars comprising a pivotally mounted spring loaded arm supported in cantilever fashion to the car body underframe underneath the shank of a railway car coupler. The device includes a channel element at its free end that interlocks the arm to the shank of the coupler for cooperative movement with the coupler shank laterally from its central or neutral position within the center sill structure of the car body underframe. A lever release system is provided to deflect the arm downwardly to position the channel element out of interlocking relation with the coupler shank to permit lateral movement of the car coupler independently of the centering device.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Damiano J. Albanese 3,108,697 10/1963Metzger 213/21 South Euclid, Ohio 1 3,438,512 4/1969 Metzger et al .1213/20 N0. fig i9 3 P imary Examiner Drayton E. Hoffman a l e a [45]Pmemed J 1971 Attorneys Henry Kozak and Woodrow Portz [73] AssigneeMidland-Ross Corporation Cleveland, Ohio a corporation ofohlo ABSTRACT:A railway car coupler centering device for railway cars comprising apivotally mounted spring loaded arm supported in cantilever fashion tothe car body underframe [54] DEvl'CE underneath the shank of a railwaycar coupler. The device inalms g g v eludes a'channel element at itsfree end that interlocks the arm U-S. to the shank of the couple forcooperative movement with the [51] lnt.Cl 8 7/ l2 coupler shanklaterally from its central or neutral position [50] Fidd of Search 6,19, within the center ill truetu 'e of the car body underframe, A leverrelease system is provided to deflect the arm downwardly to position thechannel element out of inter- [56] References cued locking relation withthe coupler shank to permit lateral UNITED STA E PATENTS movement of thecar coupler independently of the centering 1,585,948 5/1926 Tomlinson213/21 device. i

PATENTEDJAMQIQ 3556313 sum i u? 2 INVENTOR DA/W/l/Vfl J 4154/1 54ATTQRNEY PATENIFU AN I I 3.556313 SHEET 2 0F 2 ATTORNEY l COUPLERCENTERING DEVICE I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The demand for longercars by the shippers on railway freight equipment has required that theoverhang of the car established to avoid structures along theright-of-way, or a meet of another train of cars moving on horizontalcurves.

The extension of the overhang of the car body requires that the shanksof the, couplers be longer, thus necessitating a greater range oflateral movement of the shanks relative to the associated couplercarrier-iron. h

The preponderance of prior art :devices concentrates these mechanismsadjacent the. striker casting v or coupler carrier iron portion of theunderframe structure and when so located at or near the end sill of thecar body these devices must be of suff cient length, in the transversedirection of the car to ac-.

commodateithe greater range of lateral movement of the i shanks of thecoupler. The initial installation cost, design and maintenance problemsinvolved are such that they are materiaIIy objectionable. Moreover, thelong-shanked couplers are substantially heavier and together with aspringloaded-centering device makes it impractical to move the couplertoward engaging position with another car coupler when the cars are on acurve. Therefore, it is desirable and usually necessary to releae thecoupling device from its spring loaded condition in order to effect thecoupling operation. Free from the spring loaded condition the couplermay then be manually moved to its proper position for engagement withthe coupler of another car on a CUI'YB."

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A principal object of the invention is toprovide a mechanism for centering automatically a railway car coupler,

especially acoupler having an extra long-shank, which'is of rugged,simplified. trouble free design, and-which may be manufactured atcomparable or less cost than other designs now commercially available. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism that isconvenient to operate from either side of the railway car and whichmaybe operated to a coupler release condition to permit manual movement.of the car coupler in either lateral direction from its neutral orcentral position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism toselectively disassociate the coupler-centering device from the couplershank without modifying the design of the railway carcoupler. I u

A. still further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism whichmay be easily appliedto existing couplers without modifying the shank ofthe coupler and which may be placed in practical use with a minimum ofmodification to the underframe structure of a railway car body.

The above and other objects which may become apparent herein areachieved in a coupler-centering mechanism having a cantilever arm thatis affixed to the underframe of a railway vehicle immediately under theshank of a railway ear coupler disposed in common alignment with thelongitudinal vertical plane containing the longitudinal axis of thevehicle. The arm is pivotally attached to the underframe and isresiliently yieldable in both horizontal directions from its neutralposition. The am has a forward portion comprising an integral channelelement which interlocks the arm to the coupler shank. for cooperativemovement with the coupler laterally .from its central position. The armis also yieldable downwardly from its neutral position to disengage thearm a further downward deflection of the cantilever arm. This featurepermits proper positioning of the channel element. for a returninterlocking engagement with the coupler shank when the coupler returnsto its normal central position.

FIGURE DESCRIPTION FIG. I is a fragmentary plan view of the centeringmechanism showing the associated underframe car parts with the topportion of the center sill removed. The coupler shank is shown inphantom to clearly illustrate the centering mechanism including thespring loaded arm and integral channel element. in neutral position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal elevation of a railway carunderframe. coupler. and centering mechanism. with certain parts insection along a longitudinal vertical plane; v

FIG. 3 is a reduced fragmentary plan view of the centering mechanism ofFIG. 1. except thatthe centering mechanism is shown in a laterallydeflected position; g

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the spring loaded arm shown in FIG. 2 anillustrates the position of the lever release system when the arm is ina downwardly deflected position;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view ofthe structure shown in FIG. 1 andillustrates the position of the lever release system when the channelelement of the arm is in interlocking relation with the coupler shank; 7

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5, but modified to show the channel elementsubstantially released from the coupler shank and the position of thelever release system when the arm is in the deflected position shown inFIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 6, but modified to show the coupler shankengaging one of the arms of the channel element as the coupler moves tothe right;

FIG. 8 is similar to FIG. 7, but modified to show the position of thechannel element relative to the coupler shank when the v coupler ismoved further to the right and not under the restraint of the springloaded arm.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION cross element 16 below the coupler shank 18 is a wearplate 17. The coupler head is shown as at C.

The couplercentering mechanism 10 comprises a cantilever arm 19 that ispivotally mounted under coupler shank 18 to a base element 20 by pin 21.A spring 22 is mounted in compression on spring seat 23, as defined byrear web 24 of arm 19, by a tie bolt 25, spring retaining plate 26 andnut 27.

Cantilever arm 19 is adapted to move transversely about fulcrum points28, 29 and is anchored by spring compression acting through rocker armsockets 30, 31 which form a part of the rearward wall of spring seat 23.While it is possible for arm 19 to move vertically about the upper andlower extremities of fulcrum points 28, 29, the vertical movementdepends on the clearance within the pivot mounting.

Cantilever arm l9has a cam follower portion 32 at its forward endpositioned below the general plane of the arm. Cam follower portion 32is associated with a cam element 33 of a .crank member 34. Cam element33 has handles disposed subare shown as 'at 35 and 36. Fixedly mountedon flanges of A- frame portions 14 and 15 are bearings 37 and 38 forrotatably supporting crank 34.

At the forwardmost portion of cantilever arm 19 and positioned above thecam follower 32 is an integral channel element 39 having a base portion40 and upwardly extending arms 41, 42.

A paramount requirement is that the centering mechanism be disengageablefrom the coupler to permit manual shifting of the coupler to angledpositions required when a trainman finds it necessary to align opposedcouplers in positions assuring the coupling of cars onhorizontallycurved track. The position and condition of the centeringmechanism which permits movement of the coupler out of vertical registrywith the arm 19 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. In FIG. 6, crank 33 has beenrotated approximately 90 from the position shown in FIG. 2 to depressarm 19 to a level wherein the upper extremities of arms 41 and 42 areslightly above the lower extremities of the sides of coupler shank 18.

The upper extremities of arms 41 and 42 are provided with beveledsurfaces 43 and 44.

FIG. 7 illustrates that the coupler shank 18 has been moved toward theright to the extent that beveled surface 44 has reached a condition ofengagement with the lower portion of coupler shank 18. Obviously,further movement of the coupler to the right will produce camming actionof arm 42 and channel element 39 will thereby be depressed from theposition shown in FIG. 7 to the position shown in FIG. 8. It is furtherobvious from FIGS. 4 and 7 that any further slight depression of the arm19 will cause a loss of contact of the cam follower 32 with the cam 33whereupon the weight of the handles 35 and 36 will cause rotation of thecrank 34 away from the cam follower.

The coupler 18 may be returned from a position of FIG. 8 to FIGS. 1, 2and 5 manually. However, if the coupler is assumed to be in the positionof FIG. 8 and coupled with the coupler of an adjacent railway car,confining relationship of the centering mechanism by the channel elementis readily restored as the cars pass onto straight track.

The downward flexibility of the centering arm 19 is adequate to avoidoverstressing of the arm beyond its elastic limit during downwardmovement of the channel element due to unusual vertical movements of thecoupler mechanism. Dis engagement under these unusual vertical movementsof the arms 41 and 42 are not probable due to the length of the armswhich is greater than operating clearance between the coupler and theconfining associated car underframe structure.

Returning now to the car underframe elements and structure, element 47is the coupler yoke, while the coupler unit is pivotally mounted as at48 by pin 49. Placed in the path of radial movement of channellikeelement 39 are apertures 50 and 51 in the divergent center sill members14 and 15. Apertures 50, 51 permit full lateral movement of the shank 18within the A-frame structure without the arms 41 and 42 of member 39fouling the A-frame structure at full lateral movement of the couplershank 18. This condition is shown in FIG. 3. FIGS. 1 and 5 illustratethe position of arms 41, 42 relative to the sides of coupler shank 18when the centering mechanism is in its neutral position. It is to benoted that arm 42 is in close proximity to the sidewall of coupler shank18, while arm 41 is offset from the centerline of cantilever arm 19 agreater amount than arm 42. This difference in offset relationshipbetween the two arms serves the following three purposes:

1. When channel element 39 is in an interlocking relationship with theshank of a car coupler that is angularly displaced relative to thecenterline of the car, such as shown in FIG. 3, sufficient clearancemust be provided between arms 41, 42 and the adjacent sides ofthecoupler shank so as to avoid any possible binding engagement between theshank and the centering mechanism as the railway car travels over ahorizontally curved track.

2. If channel element 39 is in its central deflected position with oneofthe vertical arms engaging the bottom portion of an angularlydisplaced coupler shank, such as shown in FIG. 8, sufficient clearancemust be provided between the arms to permit the centering mechanism tospring back into an interlocking relationship with the"coupler shank toavoid an override or bypass condition. That is, if the shank moves pastits central position from the position illustrated in FIG. 8 before aniriterlocking"relationship is achieved between the channel element andthe shank, the bottom portion of the shank willfengage the other arm tomaintain the cantilever arm 19 inits deflected position.

3. The paramount reason for onefar'm being positioned closer to thecoupler shank than'the other arm, and in particular arm 42, is to assistin the alignment of the centerlines of two opposed couplers approachingeachother during an attempted coupling operation when only one of theknuckles of the opposed couplers is in the open position and bothcouplers are each laterally displaced in the opposite direction fromeach other and to the right of their respective car centerlincs; thatis, lateral displacement of each coupler towards its guard arm side. Itis well known in the railway art that the total coupler gathering rangebetween two opposed couplers approaching each other as mentioned aboveis only 1% inches, and is the most critical gathering condition whencompared to the other three well-known gathering conditions involvingcoupler lateral displacement, with either one or both of the opposedknuckles in the open position. These three other conditions have couplergathering ranges varying from 3 to 4% inches, depending upon the type ofcouplers approaching each other during the attempted coupling operation.In the critical coupling condition mentioned, the coupler shank isangularly displaced toward the right (see FIG. 5) to urge cantilever arm19, via arm 42, to the right. This movement compresses the centeringmechanism spring 22 sufficiently to exert an external reaction forceupon the side of the coupler shank, via arm 42, to urge the couplertowards its central position during the car coupling operation.

Iclaim:

1. In combination with a car underframe, draft rigging, and car couplerof a railway car, said coupler having a shank member in generalproximity to the car underframe and a head disposed forwardly in thelongitudinal direction of the car from a pivotal connection of the shankmember with the underframe', a device for providing resilient lateralsupport of the coupler within the underframe comprising;

an elongate arm member having a depending rearportion adapted to bearagainst a fixed portion of the underframe underneath said shank memberin common alignment with a longitudinal vertical plane of the vehiclepassing through said pivotal connection, pivotal means connected to thefixed portion of the underframe extending forwardly of said rear portionand in alignment with said vertical plane, resilient means carried bysaid pivotal means for biasing said rear portion into bearing relationagainst said fixed portion and urging said arm member to a neutralposition in general horizontal alignment with said vertical plane, saidarm member extending forwardly in cantilever relation to said fixedportion of the underframe and adapted to be angularly displaced inopposite horizontal directions from said neutral position upon movementof said shank member in either lateral direction, said arm member beingalso resiliently deflectable downward from its horizontal neutralposition to permit movement of said shank member independently of saidarm member in either lateral direction;

said arm member having at its forward end an integral channel elementcomprising a base portion having laterally.

spaced-vertical extending arms adapted to overlap in confiningrelationship the sides of said coupler shank member, one of saidvertical arms being in close proximity with one side of said shankmember, and said other ver- 7 tical arm being spaced from the other sideof said shank member an amount substantially greater than said firstmentioned vertical arm; said channel element retaining said armmemberand coupler shank member in approximate vertical registry at positionsin either lateral direction from respective neutral position when saidarms are'in said overlapping relationship with said coupler shankmember; and a cam follower attached to said arm member and cammeans'rotatably mounted on the' underframe member, said cam means beingrotatable and engageable with the follower to depress said arm member toa position enabling passage of said channel element out of confiningrelationship with said coupler shank member upon movement of saidcoupler in either lateral direction. 2. The combination of claim I,wherein said fixed portion of the underframe for attaching said armmember comprises a center sill element of said underframe and a fixedlymounted component disposediforwa'rdly of and transversely within said Icenter sill element and within a widened portion forming the ends of thecenter sill; said widened portion of said center sill element havingapertures for receiving saidspaced-apart vertical arms of said armmember when said arm member is moved in either lateral direction withinsaid widened portion of said center sill element.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein, said head has a guard arm at oneside and a pivotally mounted knuckle on the other side, and saidvertical arm in close proximity with said shank member is on the guardarm side of said car coupler.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein, said head has a guard arm at oneside and a pivotally mounted knuckle on the other side, and said othervertical arm is on the knuckle side of said car coupler.

1. In combination with a car underframe, draft rigging, and car couplerof a railway car, said coupler having a shank member in generalproximity to the car underframe and a head disposed forwardly in thelongitudinal direction of the car from a pivotal connection of the shankmember with the underframe; a device for providing resilient lateralsupport of the coupler within the underframe comprising; an elongate armmember having a depending rear portion adapted to bear Against a fixedportion of the underframe underneath said shank member in commonalignment with a longitudinal vertical plane of the vehicle passingthrough said pivotal connection, pivotal means connected to the fixedportion of the underframe extending forwardly of said rear portion andin alignment with said vertical plane, resilient means carried by saidpivotal means for biasing said rear portion into bearing relationagainst said fixed portion and urging said arm member to a neutralposition in general horizontal alignment with said vertical plane, saidarm member extending forwardly in cantilever relation to said fixedportion of the underframe and adapted to be angularly displaced inopposite horizontal directions from said neutral position upon movementof said shank member in either lateral direction, said arm member beingalso resiliently deflectable downward from its horizontal neutralposition to permit movement of said shank member independently of saidarm member in either lateral direction; said arm member having at itsforward end an integral channel element comprising a base portion havinglaterally spacedvertical extending arms adapted to overlap in confiningrelationship the sides of said coupler shank member, one of saidvertical arms being in close proximity with one side of said shankmember, and said other vertical arm being spaced from the other side ofsaid shank member an amount substantially greater than said firstmentioned vertical arm; said channel element retaining said arm memberand coupler shank member in approximate vertical registry at positionsin either lateral direction from respective neutral position when saidarms are in said overlapping relationship with said coupler shankmember; and a cam follower attached to said arm member and cam meansrotatably mounted on the underframe member, said cam means beingrotatable and engageable with the follower to depress said arm member toa position enabling passage of said channel element out of confiningrelationship with said coupler shank member upon movement of saidcoupler in either lateral direction.
 2. The combination of claim 1,wherein said fixed portion of the underframe for attaching said armmember comprises a center sill element of said underframe and a fixedlymounted component disposed forwardly of and transversely within saidcenter sill element and within a widened portion forming the ends of thecenter sill; said widened portion of said center sill element havingapertures for receiving said spaced-apart vertical arms of said armmember when said arm member is moved in either lateral direction withinsaid widened portion of said center sill element.
 3. The combination ofclaim 1 wherein, said head has a guard arm at one side and a pivotallymounted knuckle on the other side, and said vertical arm in closeproximity with said shank member is on the guard arm side of said carcoupler.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein, said head has a guardarm at one side and a pivotally mounted knuckle on the other side, andsaid other vertical arm is on the knuckle side of said car coupler.